Long, medium and short-term recipients of official humanitarian assistance from DAC donors, 1990–2013

Humanitarian assistance may be required to respond quickly but it is rarely a short-term intervention. The bulk of humanitarian assistance goes to the same countries year after year because of recurrent or chronic crises; it often continues to be used to provide basic goods and services in the absence of other international or national investment.

In 2013, 66% (US$ 7.23 billion) of all humanitarian assistance from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors went to long-term recipient countries, defined as those that have received an above-average share of their official development assistance (ODA) in the form of humanitarian assistance for eight years or more between 1999 and 2013. A further 23% (US$2.46 billion) of humanitarian assistance in 2013 went to medium-term recipients, defined as those meeting the same criteria for between three and seven years.

Of the 20 largest recipients of humanitarian assistance in 2013, 19 were long- or medium-term DAC recipients. The three largest recipients of international humanitarian assistance in 2013 – Syria, Occupied Palestinian territory and Sudan – are all long-term recipients.

The fact that so much humanitarian assistance goes to long- and medium-term recipients presents a challenge to both humanitarian and development financing and emphasises the need to address the underlying causes of crises. Multi-year funding arrangements should be the norm in long-term recipient countries, with greater investments in providing more suitable and sustainable solutions to long-term crises with a closer convergence with development assistance and other international resource flows.

Notes

Long, medium or short-term classification is determined by the length of time the country has received an above-average share of its ODA in the form of humanitarian assistance. Calculations are based on shares of country-allocable humanitarian assistance.